Rotoworld: Oregon RB LaMichael James and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon among top 10 players who are being overhyped for the 2012 draft.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
The Detroit Red Wings equaled an NHL record with their 20th straight win at home, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Sunday night on the strength of Johan Franzen's tiebreaking goal early in the third period.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Arc: Syracuse is among a solid group of No. 1 seeds in our latest tournament projections, but the middle of the pack is much more murky.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods greeted their Sunday pairing at Pebble Beach with optimism. But the day would end happily only for one.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
AP
ST. LOUIS - To Chris Carpenter, facing Dontrelle Willis was not a Cy Young preview. It was just another stingy outing.
Carpenter is coming out on top against all of the National League’s aces. He threw a three-hitter Tuesday night to become the major leagues’ first 16-game winner in a 3-1 victory over Willis and the Florida Marlins, strengthening his Cy Young Award credentials.
“He’s one of the best pitchers we’ve seen all year,” Marlins manager Jack McKeon said. “One of the best-pitched games we’ve seen all year. Give the guy credit.”
John Gall drove in the first two runs of his career and Jim Edmonds had an RBI single for the Cardinals, who have won five of eight and have the NL’s best record at 67-39. St. Louis, which has beaten up on the Central Division with a 32-13 record, improved to 8-9 against the tougher competition in the East.
Carpenter (16-4) beat Roger Clemens in his first start after throwing a scoreless inning in the All-Star game, and bested Roy Oswalt and Andy Pettitte earlier this season. He won his eighth straight decision in nine starts and Willis, who hit the first two batters he faced to set the tone for a wild, 103-pitch, five-inning outing, couldn’t keep up.
Carpenter convinced himself it wasn’t a special matchup, and he just had to do his job against the Marlins hitters.
“Nothing I can do about what Dontrelle does,” Carpenter said. “Dontrelle goes out and competes just like I do. My job is to get the one through nine guys out on their side.”
Carpenter allowed only a leadoff double in the first to Juan Pierre, a third-inning single to Juan Castillo and an infield single to Jeff Conine in the ninth, striking out six and walking one. In his last nine starts, Carpenter is 8-0 with an 0.83 ERA with 68 strikeouts and 11 walks in 75 2-3 innings. His overall ERA dropped to 2.26.
He needed only 109 pitches, 81 strikes, to throw his fifth complete game of the season and the 18th of his career. For Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, it was a no-brainer sending Carpenter out for the ninth against the top of the Marlins lineup instead of Jason Isringhausen.
“We have one of the game’s best closers but he was fresh and we didn’t feel like we were pushing him at all,” La Russa said. “I don’t care how great Izzy is, if I’m on the other side they may think they’ve got a better chance when the other guy comes out, because Carpenter’s just dealing.”
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
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Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
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The Red Wings have finally started to embrace a record they've been chasing.